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D.W. the Picky Eater
D.W. the Picky Eater is the eighteenth and final Living Books CD-ROM based on the 1995 storybook written by Marc Brown, and the PC CD-Rom was released in September 14th, 1998. Plot D.W. is established as a picky eater, as the title states; she is unwilling to try anything, and when she does eat, she prefers it in very specific ways. Then, she tells herself that in more than anything else in the whole world, she hates spinach. First, on Thursday, there is Hawaiian shrimp for dinner. Then on Friday, when she is at Emily's house, where they are having spaghetti, she doesn't want any spaghetti sauce on hers. Her values work at one point (she had Hawaiian shrimp for dinner on Thursday; she went to Emily's house for dinner on Friday and had spaghetti). Her "hopes" of having no spinach work for a little while. It worked all day Monday, all day Tuesday, all day Wednesday, all day Thursday, and all day Friday. But on Saturday, she was forced to try spinach and she had to do something. However, when the family goes out to dinner (which is on Saturday), she is served salad. And the salad has spinach in it. Her mother Jane tells her to try it, and Arthur warns that she is going to have a tantrum. Then her father David says, "Please try it". She refuses, and then screams out her hatred towards spinach by saying “I HATE SPINACH!”; causing the family to be embarrassed. Her mother says, "I'm so embarrassed!". Her father says, "No more restaurants for you!". By that saying from her father ("No more restaurants for you!"), it implies that she gets no more restaurants ever again until she learns to behave and eat what's placed in front of her. Then, from then on (until D.W learns to behave and eat what is placed in front of her), the family goes out to dinner without D.W. D.W is temporarily grounded from any restaurants until she cooperates and eats what's placed in front of her. D.W, she is forced (and meant) to be at home with a babysitter. Her name is Mrs. Cross. Mrs. Cross is a babysitter who is uptight. She only allows carrot sticks for snack (and it's carrot sticks for snacks on D.W every time she has Mrs. Cross), and at exactly 8 o'clock, she forces D.W to go to bed when it is time. The next morning at breakfast time, Arthur twirls a tiny paper umbrella. D.W asks Arthur where she got it. And Arthur says, "At the Chinese restaurant". Meanwhile, she begins to wonder what she has been missing (probably a tiny paper umbrella; as Arthur was at the Chinese restaurant). When there are plans to go out for Grandma Thora's birthday party (as Mother announces it). Mother says, "Tomorrow, it's Grandma Thora's birthday. Our big night out". D.W. demands to lift the grounding (even though she was not supposed to go and join the family for going out to dinner on Grandma Thora's birthday; as Mother and Father had told her that she wouldn't be joining it). She says she wants to go, too. Her family does agree with it; but only under a certain condition. That is: "She must eat what's on the menu". That is said by Father. She orders a dish called the Little Bo Peep Pot Pie, and to everyone's surprise, she loves it. D.W. then asks her mother if she could make it at home some time. Her mother says she might need the recipe. D.W then asks the waiter how it's made once he comes back and clears D.W's dishes. And then finally, he shocks her when suddenly he says that it's very simple to make. He says it is just a pie pastry filled with lots and lots of spinach (saying, "Very simple really. Just take some pie pastry and fill it with lots and lots of spinach!"). By that answer from the waiter, it shocks D.W, as it may lead her to eat spinach if she ever makes it at home. Characters *Narrator *Arthur *D.W. *Father *Mother *Grandma Thora *Emily *Mrs. Cross *Richard Pages *1 *2 *3 *4 *5 *6 *7 *8 *9 *10 Mini-games *The Playhouse *Storybook Maker *Mole Squirting *Family Picnic Elwood City Locations * Arthur's House * Chinese Restaurant Trivia *While the Living Books production staff worked on this game, Media Station produced the game as a result of Broderbund's shutdown in 1998 (despite the Broderbund logo oddly being on the cover along with copyright info about Broderbund). This is the reason for some of the outcomes having occurred as a result: **This game is not likely to be re-released by Wanderful, due to low production values and lack of Broderbund's involvement. Copies of the CD-Rom can still be found on some auction sites including eBay. **This is why it is the only Living Books game that doesn't use the IBM/Mohawk engines, and the only Living Books game that will not work on your desktop without the CD-ROM. **This is the only Living Books game that has a different menu system (rather than the usual menu system; the usual main page from the other games) aside from the rest of the games in the series. D.W.'s bedroom is set as the main menu, so all the option buttons are different than usual and come from clicking on any object in D.W.'s bedroom. **This is the only Living Books game that has omitted "Read to Me" as an option and also the character dance on the main menu. **As the only Living Books Arthur game, it goes straight back to the main menu, making it the fourth game in the series without a “THE END” screen, just like with Stellaluna, The Cat in the Hat and The New Kid on the Block. **This is the only Living Books game not to have a character say "Welcome to Living Books!" on the main menu. ** This is the only Living Book game that has different "No" or "Yes" buttons for the Quit page, instead saying "Quit" or "Stay". *** When the user clicks on DW's door if they want to quit (seen as an option on both the main menu and on the pages), D.W gives the user a "Quit" and "Stay" answer. **** Instead of "Are you sure you want to quit?", she says "If you want to say goodbye, click 'Quit'. If you want to keep playing, click 'Stay'". You leave the book when D.W. says "See you later" (if "Quit" is chosen). However, the user may keep playing when D.W. says "Great" (if "Stay" is chosen). *This is the only Living Books game that also allows the player to skip out reading by clicking to skip. **On Arthur's Computer Adventure, this can be done by pressing the Enter key. * Just like Ruff's Bone, Green Eggs and Ham, and Arthur's Computer Adventure, this game also has its own original credits (displaying a picture from one page of the book) and doesn't use any jazz credits animations. * In the cartoon version from the Arthur TV series, the waiter at "Once Upon a Restaurant" is the same waiter from the restaurant from a previous Saturday that D.W and her family went out to dinner at. In this version (the Living Books CD rom adaptation) and the book too, the waiter from the restaurant from a previous Saturday that D.W and her family went out to dinner at was also "Once Upon a Restaurant". * In the cartoon version, D.W's mother (Mrs. Jane Read) told D.W she was going to not have any restaurants until she learned to behave appropriately and eat what was in front of her. In this version (and book adaptation), D.W's father (Mr. David Read) told her. But still, she was temporarily grounded from restaurants until she learned to cooperate. * This is the last official Living Books game. Quotes D.W. Read: Hi, I'm D.W. and this is my room. If you know how to play in here that's terrific. If you need help, just click on me. Category:Living Books Games Category:Books Category:Marc Brown